Telling the Time in German
German telling the time is straightforward except for one word. Halb counts forward to the next hour, not back from the last one, and that catches out nearly every learner.
Asking and answering
-
Wie spät ist es?
vee shpayt ist es
-
What time is it?
-
Es ist ein Uhr
es ist ine oor
-
It is one o'clock
ein, not eins, before Uhr
-
Es ist zwei Uhr
es ist tsvy oor
-
It is two o'clock
-
um acht Uhr
oom akht oor
-
at eight o'clock
Parts of an hour
-
Viertel nach drei
FEER-tel nakh dry
-
quarter past three
-
Viertel vor vier
FEER-tel for feer
-
quarter to four
-
halb vier
halp feer
-
half past three
Half of the way to four, so 3:30
-
zehn nach fünf
tsayn nakh fuunf
-
ten past five
-
zwanzig vor sechs
TSVAN-tsikh for zeks
-
twenty to six
Parts of the day
-
der Morgen
dehr MOR-gen
-
the morning
-
der Vormittag
dehr FOR-mit-tahk
-
the late morning
-
der Mittag
dehr MIT-tahk
-
midday
-
der Nachmittag
dehr NAKH-mit-tahk
-
the afternoon
-
der Abend
dehr AH-bent
-
the evening
-
die Nacht
dee nakht
-
the night
-
die Mitternacht
dee MIT-ter-nakht
-
midnight
The halb trap, and the 24-hour clock
Halb names the hour it is heading towards. Halb drei is 2:30, not 3:30. English speakers read it as half past three and turn up an hour late.
Anything official, from train timetables to opening hours, uses the 24-hour clock: 14 Uhr 30 for 2:30pm. Nobody says halb drei to a ticket machine.
Dates are written day first, so 3.5.2026 is the third of May. Spoken, it becomes am dritten Mai.
- Es ist halb neun.It is 8:30.
- Der Zug fährt um 16 Uhr 20.The train leaves at 4:20pm.
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